Pocono programs brace for drastic funding cuts

Local agencies aren't sure what to expect Friday when $85 billion in across-the-board federal program cuts are scheduled to go into effect.

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By DAVID PIERCE

poconorecord.com

By DAVID PIERCE

Posted Feb. 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By DAVID PIERCE

Posted Feb. 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

Local agencies aren't sure what to expect Friday when $85 billion in across-the-board federal program cuts are scheduled to go into effect.

The sequester — automatic spending cuts that Congress and the White House imposed on themselves as the price for not reaching a budget compromise — will mean Pennsylvania stands to lose 26,000 civilian defense jobs, according to a state analysis released by the Obama administration.

About 3,100 low-income college students statewide will lose financial aid, 2,300 preschool children will no longer be in Head Start, some $849,000 will be cut from senior citizens' meals and $866,000 will be reduced from helping the unemployed find jobs.

Tim Lee, executive director of Pocono Services for Families and Children, was still trying to determine Monday when and how the cuts may reduce the number of Head Start preschoolers the agency serves in Monroe County.

"It's not an immediate cut," Lee said. "Our team is looking at it right now and all the possible options that may be available to us."

Worst-case scenario: Pocono Services would lose $150,000, forcing it to close a classroom of about 20 children and eliminate four or five related teaching and support positions. The reduction would impact about 10 percent of Pocono Services' preschoolers.

"That is absolutely the worst case," Less said. "We don't see that happening right away."

Mimi Mikels, executive director of Monroe County Meals on Wheels, was trying to figure out how the sequester would impact her senior citizen meal service.

"I'm sure all of our programs are going to be affected somehow, but I don't think they're going to be affected March 1," Mikels said. "No one knows — except whatever happens, it isn't going to be good."

Pocono Mountain School District isn't sure how federal cuts in teaching positions and aides, including those in special education, will impact the program there. The district is owed about $1.5 million of the $3.1 million in federal funds it was promised, spokeswoman Wendy Frable said.

East Stroudsburg University was still trying to track down how the sequester would impact work-study jobs for low-income students.

They urged a "balanced and reasonable" alternative of targeted cuts coupled with closing tax loopholes on wealthy Americans.

"I don't think it's in dispute that to let the sequester go into effect is a bad idea," Casey said. "This is all avoidable. There is a much better path."

Federal cuts under the sequester will mean the loss of private sector jobs, too, Casey said, and threaten the economic recovery. He said Congress already has reduced long-term spending by nearly $2.5 trillion.

"The sequester was never designed to be policy," said White House Deputy Press Secretary Amy Brundage. "Some effects will be felt right away. Some will not be felt for a few weeks, or on down in the future."

Unemployment checks will immediately be cut by 10 percent, said Jason Furman, deputy director of President Obama's National Economic Council. Other cuts will evolve between March 1 and the end of the federal fiscal year Oct. 1.